"The Flash" EP Weighs in on Barry's Fight Against Zoom, Wally's Relationships & More

With the show returning to television tomorrow, "The Flash" executive producer Andrew Kreisberg spoke to Entertainment Weekly about what fans can expect in the back half of season two, including Barry's hunt for Zoom, the way Wells views Team Flash, Iris' journalism career and more.

"Zoom starts to become the White Whale for Barry, that thing that's circling out there that's haunting him, that Barry knows could come across the breach and destroy him at any moment," Kreisberg explained. "It's a very different angst that he has this year than he had last year. What I don't think he's fully aware of is they're actually linked and that will start to play out more as the season progresses."

"At some point, [Team Flash is] going to decide to take the fight to Zoom," he added.

He also touched on what separates Earth-2 Wells from last season's big bad, saying, "As opposed to last year where this was all some crazy long-term scheme to get what he wanted, this is a very different Wells, who is really between a rock and a hard place. Essentially the devil has his child and is telling him to turn on all these people. The irony this time is that the more time they all spend together, the more time they work together defeating villains, the more they all come to embrace him. This Wells just wanted to save his daughter. He didn't come over here to make friends and find a family. The emotional toll that this possible betrayal is taking on him is some of Tom [Cavanagh]'s best work."

When it comes to Wally, the situation will be equally tough -- just in a different way. "In the beginning, Joe goes through all the stages of being a parent," Kreisberg explained. "Initially, he's trying way too hard to be insta-dad. Wally is not having that. There's a lot of friction between Wally and Barry, because as much as Barry is Joe's son, Wally is his actual son genetically; Barry is the son Joe raised. So you have both of these young men who are vying for that place and Joe's affection. Joe is also wrestling with how do you love them both without making one or the other feel like they're being alienated?"

Iris, however, is a different story. "She's the sane one in any relationship she's in. She's the one who is trying to get Joe to pull back a little bit on the gas," he said. "Also, we're going to learn that Wally is a street racer. He's racing 'Fast and the Furious'-style races. Because of that, he's in danger. Joe is actually not putting a stop to it, where he has every right to do that as a police officer. Iris is the one who is trying to massage him through what Wally needs to be. At first, Joe's instinct is to be his best friend, but he realizes that's just not who he is, that he needs to be his father. That's really what Wally needs, especially [with Francine dying]."

Iris will also get a shot to show off more of her journalism skills later in the season. "We actually have a lot of that in episode 12, which is directed by Doctor Who favorite Rachel Talalay. That episode is called 'Fast Lane,' and it's all about Wally and his drag racing. The villain in that one is Tar Pit [Marco Grazzini]. It's really Iris and her journalism that's driving the story. It's a really great story for her, we're really excited about it."

As to whether or not we'll see any "mini-crossovers," like the Diggles showing up to wrangle King Shark, Kreisberg said, "We don't have any definitive plans for them. I can't promise we won't. We haven't really broken past episode 18 right now. We have plans and we know the big signposts ahead, but that one [with the Diggles] is one to be really excited about. Also, those episodes where we go to Earth-2 are analogous to the episodes last season where we started messing with time travel. We feel like we've been building up to it, and it's exactly the right time to go over there."